I picked up a steal-of-a-deal Freud FT3000VCE router and Jessem router lift separately off Craigslist. The lift came with a laminate table top that the previous owner had made which I want to make use of. So I have a nice router and lift/tabletop. What I lack is a fence. I’ve done a little research, and have the following options (among others):

The Kreg fence looks nice but $200 is more than I want to spend on this, so that’s out. I checked MLCS but it doesn’t look like they sell fences separately. I like the look of the micro-adjusters on the Freud fence. It doesn’t seem like the Rockler ones have that. The main advantage of the Rockler fences would be the built in t-tracks and that they are a little longer than the Freud one.

What say you, Lumberjocks? Have you used any of those three fences? Which stands out? Any other options I haven’t mentioned for a good price? I’d like to stay in the ~$100 and under range if possible.

Hadn’t really considered making my own fence. Interesting idea. It probably wouldn’t cost me a whole lot less than some of the cheaper fences I could purchase, but it’d certainly be custom to my needs.

Chrisstef, do you find that the Freud fence you have is too short for any common operations? I liked the look of the micro-adjustability but was a little put off by how short the fence seemed.

Jonah – I haven’t found it too short for any operations to date, however I don’t run thousands of bf through it on a yearly basis so YMMV. The good thing about that fence is that you can replace the MDF fence with any length of hardwood you choose. Its held on with 4 screws.

Edit – The fence can also adjust left to right, either extending the length or minimizing the length down to almost zero clearance

My use is very much hobbyist, not production. I’ve never owned a router table before, and while there are certainly quite a few potential operations that I see myself doing with it, I’m certainly not going to be living in front of the router table.

I’m leaning in the direction of the Freud fence with a strong consideration for making my own.

We sell the Kreg, Rockler and Benchdog wether I work. The Kreg is the only one I ever hear complaints about. The version of the Kreg we sell has the dust port offset from where the router bit is positioned and the complaints are that it is terrible for dust collection. Other than that, no other complaints. So if upper dust collection is important, it is somethin to consider.

-- I'm not clumsy.. It's just the floor hates me, the tables and chairs are bullies, the wall gets in the way AAANNNDDD table saws BITE my fingers!!!.. - Mike -

Ordinarily, I’m with you and Tedstor, I work two jobs and shop time is precious, but not this time. I built my own fence…a couple of times in fact. I could just not find what I wanted. The first time I used an extrusion like TeamTurpin—-(please don’t take offense)...it was great…looked pretty…has no issues with being flat…was not going to warp…..until I want to “edge route” a tall piece…it was to short. I also wanted to swing some rased panel bits…the opening was too small…so I built a fence that was tall like MT Stringer with the t track for hold downs but I made it so it could split and adjust that split to accomidate really big bits.

And as long as I’m offending all my friends…a friend of mine bought a Kreg table and fence. I love kreg…they are in Iowa and so am I, their customer service is awesome, and their products are ordinarliy great, but that router table fence are wierd. They tried to be innovative and I think they missed…...Just my .02Mike